PHMSA Pipeline NPRM

Today the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (76 FR 73570-73581) proposing to make a series of miscellaneous changes to the pipeline safety regulations. According to the summary of the NPRM the changes would “correct errors, address inconsistencies, and respond to rulemaking petitions” (76 FR 73570).

The specific areas to be addressed in the NPRM include:

• Responsibility to Conduct Construction Inspections - §192.305

• Leak Surveys for Type B Gathering Lines - §192.706

• Qualifying Plastic Pipe Joiners - §192.285

• Mill Hydrostatic Tests for Pipe to Operate at Alternative MAOP Transportation - §192.112

• Regulating the of Ethanol by Pipeline - §195.2

• Limitation of Indirect Costs in State Grants

• Transportation of Pipe - §192.65

• Threading Copper Pipe - §192.279

• Offshore Pipeline Condition Reports - §§191.l27 and 195.57

• Calculating Pressure Reductions for Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Integrity Anomalies - §195.452

• Testing Components other than Pipe Installed in Low-Pressure Gas Pipelines - §192.503 (new)

• Alternative MAOP Notifications - §192.620

• National Pipeline Mapping System (various sections)

• Welders vs. Welding Operators (various sections)

• Components Fabricated by Welding - §§192.153 and 192.165

• Odorization of Gas - §192.625                                                                               

• Editorial Amendments (various sections)

Public comments on these proposed changes are being solicited by PHMSA. Comments may be submitted to the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket # PHMSA-2010-0026). Comments must be posted by February 3, 2012.